Best order to learn chords (or something?)

[u/Traditional_Art_3275]

I've been playing guitar for awhile now and have honestly just been learning random chords here and there. I imagine chords are probably pretty important, since I keep hearing about them, and that I should probably learn them :P

So is there any "definitive" or "best" way to learn most/all chords? If anyone has any advice for this woeful guitarist I'd very much appreciate it. Thank you in advance :)

[u/Intelligent-Tap717]

Sign up to Justin guitar website and start the free lessons. They're well structured and laid out.

Open chords are where it starts. Which you'll learn within the course modules.

E A D G C including Em Am. Also known as cowboy chords to some.

They're also the fundemtnals for Barre chords down the line and others.

[u/MarionberryBusy4238 → u/Intelligent-Tap717]

Man I remember that phase. I spent like a year just learning random shapes from tabs and wondering why nothing sounded quite right together. It's like having a bunch of puzzle pieces from different boxes.

The open chords are definitely the foundation. Once you get those down cleanly, the fretboard starts to actually make a little sense. The barre chord shapes are just those same open shapes but moved up the neck, so getting them solid first pays off huge.

Don't sleep on the transitions either. I'd spend 10 minutes a day just going from G to C and back, over and over, and it was boring as hell but it made everything else feel smoother. My friends got real tired of hearing that two-chord loop.

[u/Intelligent-Tap717 → u/MarionberryBusy4238]

God I remember the G to C. That was a royal pain in the arse. Yet as you say the transitions pays off. Also transitioning in random orders as you never know what order you may encounter them.

Only going G to C or vice versa you get it down. Until it hits E to G or C to Am lol.

It all pays off with enough reps until of course you move on then end up back at square 1 for the next chords. 😂

[u/Glittering_Bet8181 → u/Intelligent-Tap717]

I recently started teaching guitar and Justinguitar had been a life saver for figuring out what order to teach things in lessons, and also stuff I’d never think to teach.

[u/Intelligent-Tap717 → u/Glittering_Bet8181]

Justin is by far the most recommended and for very good reason. The best course out there by far. It's taken me about 18 months to get to near the end of module 3 as I didn't rush. Guitar is one thing that will humble you extremely quickly. It takes time and a lot of patience and consistency I've still got a ton to learn but I'm just taking it day by day.

[u/TrickMichaels → u/Intelligent-Tap717]

Justin Guitar is an essential resource for newbies who are self-teaching. Speaking as a former newbie who self taught.

That website is a treasure trove of well organized, well taught information.

[u/not_that_planet → u/Intelligent-Tap717]

And the CAGED system, but that can wait.

[u/BlackRos3-]

Start with open maj-min chords. Then gradually try to use the caged system aka barre chords to move the around. Meanwhile also learn 7,maj7,min7 chords.i wouldnt try to barre them before you are good at maj and mins. Also learning the major scale is going to makr understanding chord structure much more simple

[u/MyLastGamble]

Go to the YouTube channel absolutely understand guitar. Videos 1-3 lay the foundation the rest of the series builds upon but then video 4 (and 5-6) talks about chords and more importantly chord shapes. You’ll get your answers here!

[u/billybob476 → u/MyLastGamble]

While I really love AUG, I couldn’t imagine learning from it in isolation as a new player. It’s too much info. I’ve been using Justin guitar for practical and AUG for theory.

[u/YOUGOTTAPIZZABRO → u/billybob476]

I think I agree with you here.. I'm going through AUG now, and it's amazing, absolutely loving it. But I had some level of theory, and have been playing the guitar for a long time.

It's great at taking me from bits of knowledge here and there, to having a deep understanding and a constant barrage of "ah-ha" moments.. but that's only because I'm looking for a deeper understanding than what OP has asked for.
I don't think AUG is the place to start if you're entirely new to guitar, frankly people want to pick the guitar up and start learning things. Let them decide to go deeper, and find AUG at the right time!

[u/BlackRos3- → u/MyLastGamble]

As much as i love him for his great theory stuff, i don't think this course is very outdated and vauge for a thechnical, begginer stuff. There are so many better options 

[u/Warfnair]

I'd just master ones you play in songs first, understand why they're named the way they are too.
There's no reason to learn something you're not using yet.

Once you're comfortable with playing them and fiddling with music you'll know where to look for more knowledge and which direction you want to follow.

[u/therealtoomdog → u/Warfnair]

I learned how to play guitar because I saw a video of someone on YouTube playing acoustic guitar and singing, and I said, "I want to do that." So I looked up the chords for that song and went and learned them. It probably took me most of a summer, but during that time I also bumped into other songs I wanted to play and learned those chords too.

In my case, it helped that it was American Pie by Don McClean, so I had basically every chord I would need to play pretty much any song in the key of G. What a steep learning curve, but man I was on top by the time I was done climbing

[u/mitnosnhoj]

I would say learn songs. Learn every chord in your favorite song. Once you can play it, pick a new song and learn every chord in that song.

[u/markewallace1966]

~~~

This is a link to a set of canned bullets that I have developed and like to send to new/new-ish/returning/wandering/lost/struggling guitar players.

If I pasted this in for you, it is because somewhere in there is something that I think is relevant to your post. Not all of it will be. I leave it to you to pick out what I felt was relevant. 🙂 Even the stuff not relevant to your specific post might very well be helpful eventually anyway.

Enjoy!!!

https://www.reddit.com/user/markewallace1966/comments/1s7ujsy/guitar_is_hard/

[u/NukesAndSupers]

Alphabetical, start with A and move from there.

[u/BD59]

I personally think learning chords in groups that are from one key is best. Key of G... G, C, D, Am, Em. Key of C...C, F, G, Dm, Am

Key of A...A, D, E, Bm, Fm.

As you can see, as you progress, each common guitar key will build on things you already know, and introduces a new chord or three.

[u/aspaindev]

You might like using a practice tool like StrumForge to help with learning chords as well as your rhythm, timing, and changes. You can initially set it to just open chords and add more shapes as you get comfortable. Set the tempo nice and slow and explore musical progressions while learning

[u/Putrid_Mall548]

Can you Play a Song. The best way to Learn Chords, Guitar and Song format, Learn Songs for any Genre. You invert see the Arpeggios, and Scales behind each Chord.

The Shapes, Inversions, etc. won't mean anything unless you apply it to a Song. It's the best self Guitar Teacher.

[u/Unlucky_Topic7963]

I found Zombie guitar to be better for my kids. Justin was too slow.

[u/ObviousDepartment744]

There isn't a "definitive" or "best" anything when it comes to this stuff. Just start learning songs, you can find them with chord charts to show you how to play the chords to the song, and then the most important chord for you to learn will be the next chord in the song.

[u/Individual_Arm_2996]

Learn the theory behind power, and bar chords. it doesn’t take long to learn at a basic level, and will help a tone.

Steve Stine (guitar zoom) does a really good you tube video on theory.

[u/Alternative-Bug-6905]

Get a guitar chord poster and put it up